Anyone have any thoughts on brushing with baking soda? I’ve heard good things, but to not overdo it. I’ve known a few elderly women with all their teeth who swear by it, but I’m curious if anyone else has any knowledge on this.
Mid for brushing with, stick to a fluoride toothpaste. It can be good to add to water to rinse with if you are eating dietary acids like soft drinks, lemons and vinegar or experience reflux. Water alone is good because it will dilute the acids and flush them away, the baking soda gives it extra power by also neutralising the acids. So really its an adjunctive measure, something to add on top of brushing and flossing regularly.
I think this thread is a valuable source so in good faith I am supplying an update. I bit into a screwdriver too hard almost a year ago and it did a little spin against the edge of a tooth. It caused a chip so small I couldn't feel it with a nail, only with floss. The dentist said it was too small to do anything but that dentist also sucked for other reasons. Now it's gotten bigger and I can feel it. The lesson here is maybe don't brush so hard and if you rely on fluoride-free toothpaste maybe use a little fluoride mouthwash every few days, especially once your enamel is exposed.
You probably can repair the chip with resin composite but sometimes when its so small its not worth the effort or money. By the sounds of it. I'd only do it if it really bothers you or is a large enough cosmetic issues to make you want to repair it.
Guys. I have a really bad tooth abscess that appeared yesterday. Molar was giving me hell like 4 days ago, and now there's an abscess in the gum around it. Either periodontal or pericoronal... I can't find any fucking dentists that'll accept Medicaid nearby, except one not even in my county, and they're out for surgery and only have appointments in AUGUST.
Started regularly brushing a month or so ago, but I have deep cavities from years ago because I was a retard and now I wanna prevent more. How fucked am I? Is there anything I can do for it? Aside from antibiotics it's looking like I'll have to drain it myself despite it being a bad idea. I'm pretty poor lmao. I don't wanna fucking die or suffer further complications.
I went through worse bullshit than trying to find an optometrist. Dentistry is fucked.
Every damn dentist office I've called and asked about that I considered getting appointments for just refer me to EXAMS and don't fucking listen to me trying to describe my problems. I'm don't want a normal X-ray, and exam, I want either a root canal or fucking extraction. Or drainage. But no I have to go through all the bullshit which is routine I'm sure but I don't think I have time for any of that.
This is life or death for me. I take ibuprofen but it doesn't clear the tooth infection in my mouth. ER won't help much either.
If your tooth is hurting like a bitch and you have decay its likely that the pulp (nerve) is irreversibly damaged or dead. Makes me think you are more likely to have a periapical abscess. Periodontal abscesses don't tend to hurt that much in comparison. Big things to look out for with pulpal symptoms are hot and cold sensitivity, nocturnal pain and spontaneous pain, non-responsive to pain killers. If that's you, you are probably looking at a root canal to keep the tooth or extraction.
As for what you can do for that tooth, I would think you should be able to book for a limited/emergency exam. Typically this lets you get in, have 1 issue addressed with quick fix like extraction or removing the nerve. Don't know why they are only offering you a comprehensive exam and clean.
If you are serious about keeping your teeth and turning things around my recommendations would be the following
- Brush 2x daily for 2 minutes with an electric toothbrush - Actually pay attention when brushing and get every part of every tooth, go slowly and gently. Spit after brushing and do not rinse, avoid eating and drinking for at least 30 minutes after. It will probably feel weird and kind of pointless when you still have cavities but this is the foundation of oral health, building these habits are essential. No point in doing anything else if you cannot even do this.
- Change to a high fluoride toothpaste - I think its called prevident in the US?
- Floss daily
- Ensure your diet is good for dental health - No snacking, 3 square meals a day, reduce sugar as much as possible, no soft drinks, even sugar free, no high acid foods
All of this is typically enough to stop new decay from forming and arrest and stop early decay from progressing. But like anything you have to be consistent to get any results. As for dental treatment. Get yourself out of pain first, extirpatate the molar if its salvageable (start the root canal), then move onto controlling decay, get the other spots of decay fixed with permanent or temporary fillings, finish the molar root canal. Get any crowns/overlays - definitely on the root canal and maybe some other teeth if needed.
Its a lot of work often when patients decide to turn things around after years of neglect and it can take a lot of time and money to fix it all but once its fixed and you have your oral hygiene down at home maintenance is very minimal and ongoing costs are low.
I would also recommend you try and keep all of your natural teeth if possible. Even with root canals and crowns its cheaper and they function better than an implant. Many dentists write teeth off too early now because they can't be fucked to do the root canal and they prefer to place an implant instead.
